Interested in Forming a Study Group?
Don't
know who to ask?
Ask the people who usually sit near you, or go to the Piazza site for the course
and find like-minded students. There is a link to the Piazza course site on the CW left menu for registered students.
Or go to
https://piazza.com/columbia/spring2014/biolc2006f2402/home

We have not yet figured out
whether we will be able to provide facilitators for study groups. If you
already have a functioning group, we encourage you to continue. If you don't
have a group, we strongly encourage you to form one, using personal contacts
or Piazza. We think study groups, facilitated or not, are usually very
helpful, as long as the group focuses on studying and not on socializing.
Some people prefer to study in pairs; some in larger groups. In most cases,
it is very valuable to have others to bounce your ideas off of -- both to
give you a chance to explain, and to give you a chance to learn from others.
Being forced to formulate & articulate your ideas is very useful, whether
you are doing it to convince someone else, or trying to explain what you
don't understand.

Some ideas for things to try in your study group:

1. Compare notes on that week's lectures. The sooner you do this after the
lecture, the better. Don't recopy -- just fix up the
parts that weren't clear. Fill in any details you missed and be sure you
understand the major points of each lecture. If there is an example, ask
yourselves, "What is the point?" If there is a principle, ask
yourselves "Do we know a good example?"

2. Go over the study questions, old exam questions and/or recitation
questions. Force yourselves to explain the answers to each other without using
pronouns. Don't use "it." Say "microtubule" or "microfilament" or
"tubulin." That way you are sure you all know what "it" is.

3. Give each other sample questions or quizzes -- take turns making up a
question or two for the others to practice on.

5. Make a vocabulary list of all new terms for the week and check that you
know the meaning and significance of all of them. (Don't waste time writing out
definitions of all the terms -- spend your time on the terms that are unclear.)

Can't manage to form a study
group? Still prefer to study by yourself? In that case, try all the ideas
above, but try to explain to yourself as clearly & thoroughly as if
you were explaining to a fellow student.